one twenty seven

The 2024 VOTE

By Paul A. Djupe This is the most consequential US election in our lifetimes. With it, democratic norms like mutual toleration and institutional forbearance hang in the balance. Will voters reward the candidate promising to radically reshape American government or will they make history with the first female president who promises to stay the course…

Why So Little Protesting on Campus?

By Paul A. Djupe, Data for Political Research Students occupied buildings. They set up lasting encampments. They disrupted classes. They produced pamphlets. Eventually, some faced jail time and expulsion. They did this in order to draw attention to the war in Gaza and the long plight of the Palestinians. How did Denison avoid this? In…

How Denisonians feel about the 2024 election and the candidates

By Harrison Hamm The 2024 presidential election is approaching, but enthusiasm among Denison students is not high. For a variety of reasons, the candidates do not inspire excitement among students, according to polling from March of this year. The candidates have been known for months, as Donald Trump had little problem navigating the Republican primaries….

Who cares about America’s world power status?

By Miles D. Williams, Data for Political Research I study and teach about international politics for a living, so it’s no surprise that this is my default lens for thinking about Presidential elections in the US. Compared to other issue areas, the US President has a lot of latitude in foreign policy. This is partly…

Where have the parties gone?

Paul A. Djupe, Data for Political Research An old rule of policing is that showing up to one area merely serves to push crime to other neighborhoods. I feel like Denison has been doing some of this in recent history, trying to break the stranglehold of the Sunnies or the notorious suites of East, which…

Officer Joe

By Ryan Darragh Joseph Hegenderfer, “Officer Joe” to us Denisonians, is one of Denison’s most beloved staff members. As a soon-to-be graduate, I can confidently say that he has shaped my Denison experience for the better. Officer Joe has touched the hearts of countless students on this campus. Midday he is found driving loops around…

The War on Campus

By Paul A. Djupe, Data for Political Research There’s a teach-in about Palestine tomorrow in Knobel Hall at 5pm that you may be interested in. When I saw this, I realized that we had some new data about how students were feeling toward thost most invested in these questions and the current conflict. I’m taking…

You Should Get Involved: Here’s the Emotional Payoff

By Harrison Hamm This time of year, as classwork picks up and the end of the semester looms, attendance at extracurriculars seems to decline. I say this anecdotally — not backed by data — but it makes sense. Other priorities start to take precedence, from classwork to socializing to simply relaxing after a long day….

AI Use is Growing

By Paul A. Djupe, Director of Data for Political Research We’ve had access to large-language model AI chatbots for just over a year now. We’re in our second semester of asking about it. Last fall, when we knew nothing, everything was enlightening. At this stage, it’s important to assess how quickly attitudes and adoption are…

Young Adults are Shifting Away From Drinking – How about Denison?

By Paul A. Djupe, Director of Data for Political Research New reports are consistent and clear – younger American adults are not drinking as frequently or as much as they used to. According to Gallup polling, young adults are keeping up with their grandparents in reduced drinking levels. Two decades ago 72 percent of young…

AI Use on Campus

By Paul A. Djupe, Director of Data for Political Research Last year AI felt like it would hit academia like the Chicxulub impactor – the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs. To the Eeyores among us, ChatGPT spelled the end of the college essay, perhaps the end of academia itself. If students can generate viable…

Religion on Campus: A Minority Are Religious And With a Foot Out the Door

By Paul A. Djupe, Director of Data for Political Research In 2023, for the first time in its history, the majority of Denison students (54-55 percent) identified as some sort of religious none. With “nothing in particular” leading the way, the next biggest religious group didn’t come close in our spring survey (Protestants at 15…